“Just kind of like whenever anybody upsets me. Like I just kind of want to tear them apart… I think it’s not ever going to go away… It’s just who I am.”
That’s the confession of 8-year-old Aidan from Lakewood, CO. And on February 22, he tore a classroom apart in his attempt to tear his teachers apart. In fact, he apparently got so wild, he fashioned himself a weapon out of the wood trim and was trying to “stab” teachers. He also threw chairs and a TV. When police arrived on scene to diffuse the situation, they pepper sprayed the second-grader:
Local station 9News explains what led cops to that drastic action:
Aidan “was climbing the cart and spitting at teachers. He also broke wood trim off the walls and was trying to stab teachers with it.”
“I wanted to make something sharp if they came out because I was so mad at them,” Aidan said. “I was going to try to whack them with it.”
The report goes on to say Aidan, “was holding what looked like a sharpened one foot stick and he screamed, ‘Get away from me you f—ers.’”
Lakewood Police officers ordered the 8-year-old to “drop the stick.” When he refused, they sprayed him with pepper spray twice until he dropped the piece of wood and was handcuffed.Naturally, Aidan’s mom, Mandy, isn’t happy.
“I‘m sure what he was doing wasn’t right, but he’s 8 years old,” Mandy told 9News. “They walked in, asked him to drop the stick, and then sprayed him with the spray… I think it’s excessive.”
But a spokesman for the Lakewood police department doesn’t think so, especially considering the situation.
“I think they not only made the right choice, they made a great choice that day to use the pepper spray,” Steve Davis told the station.
As Gawker says, maybe Davis could have chosen better words than “they made a great choice,” but that doesn’t erase his argument. Especially considering police have been called to the school before to respond to Aidan’s outbursts. Twice.
Aidan has now been moved to a school for children with behavioral issues.
As a side note, I lived in Lakewood for a year recently. I can tell you that the reputation of the Lakewood PD around the Colorado suburbs — and within the law enforcement community that I was friendly with — isn’t spotless, but that’s not because the department is known for being brutal, kid-beating thugs. Mostly, the impression I got is that the LPD is a little more full of itself: each officer must have a four-year degree and is technically called an “agent.” They’re stuck up, is what other current and former law enforcement officials told me.
But in the end, being a little cocky isn’t a crime — as long as you’re preventing or responding to them. Even if they involve 8-year-olds.
What do you think?
Did police overreact by using pepper spray?
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